Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Carla Emery
onion family ( Allium ) offers rich N variety and a broad spectrum of flavors, from the mild and tender leek to the fiery punch of garlic. Unlike fragrant garden lilies, Alliums are rich in sulphur, which gives them their vivid flavor and distinctive aroma.
GREEN ONIONS
Scallions
Scallions actually aren’t a variety of onion, but an early stage in the onion life cycle; these “green onions” are most often the young greens of immature globe onions, harvested when thick as a pencil and at least 6 inches tall. If you want to harvest green onions all summer long, thickly plant onion seed or sets at intervals all spring and thin the young plants as they grow to establish final spacing.
Bunching onions
Bunching onions ( Allium fistulosum ) are perennials, and as such they should be located where they can remain undisturbed. In fact, it’s possible to keep patches of bunching onions going for 10 to 20 years in a fertile soil. Start seed in early spring, sowing thickly in a block directly in the garden. Bunching onions never form a bulb; the white bottoms always stay thin and straight, topped by a shock of green chive-like foliage. Harvest lightly in the first year, allowing the remaining plants to go to seed and self-sow. Next spring they’ll be the first edible to appear in your garden and may be harvested as needed, although they’re at their best early in the year.
Chives
Chives ( Allium schoenoprasum ) are hardy perennials with deep green, hollow leaves that grow in a clump 8 to 12 inches tall. Their mild onion flavor heralds spring. The lovely purple globe-shaped flowers in early summer are slightly stronger in flavor and when separated into individual florets are tasty additions to salads and make a beautiful and edible garnish.
PLANTING: Little pots of chives are one of the earliest culinary herbs to show up at nurseries each spring; they can be set out in the garden when temperatures are still quite cold. Seeds may be sown ¼ inch deep in fertile soil in full sun once the weather has settled. Divide clumps every 2 to 3 years and reset into the garden at 12-inch spacing to increase your stock; chives make a lovely border to both herb and ornamental gardens.
HARVESTING: Chives are at their best throughout spring. Snip the thin, grass-like tops often to encourage tender regrowth, and remove faded flowers before they set seed to keep plants full and productive.
Garlic chives
Garlic chives ( Allium tuberosum ), also known as Chinese chives or Oriental chives, are a different species from regular chives but are used in the same way. They are quicker to mature than regular chives, have flat grassy leaves with a delicate garlic flavor, and bear starry white flowers. Garlic chives are less hardy than regular chives; a harsh winter may kill unprotected plants.
PLANTING: Garlic chive plants appear in nurseries once spring has warmed and can be transplanted into the garden at that time. The seed needs a warm start (70 to 80°F) and is usually started indoors in thickly sown flats; transplant into the garden in clumps, first trimming roots to ½ inch.
HARVESTING: Snip the fine grassy foliage of garlic chives throughout the summer, removing spent flowers to maintain production.
Leeks
Leeks ( Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum ) are grown for their delicate-tasting, white fleshy stem.
PLANTING: Prepare a well-dug, fertile soil in full sun. Transplants are easier to place than seeds and provide a jump on the growing season when started indoors 50 days before the frost-free date. Leeks require a long growing season, typically 105 to 130 days to maturity, depending on the variety. When setting the transplants into the garden, trim a few inches from the top of each plant and space plants about 2 inches apart in every direction. This will allow you to harvest the young leeks at a “scallion” stage while thinning to an eventual spacing of 6 inches apart.
Every few weeks, mound soil around the growing leeks to
GREEN ONIONS
Scallions
Scallions actually aren’t a variety of onion, but an early stage in the onion life cycle; these “green onions” are most often the young greens of immature globe onions, harvested when thick as a pencil and at least 6 inches tall. If you want to harvest green onions all summer long, thickly plant onion seed or sets at intervals all spring and thin the young plants as they grow to establish final spacing.
Bunching onions
Bunching onions ( Allium fistulosum ) are perennials, and as such they should be located where they can remain undisturbed. In fact, it’s possible to keep patches of bunching onions going for 10 to 20 years in a fertile soil. Start seed in early spring, sowing thickly in a block directly in the garden. Bunching onions never form a bulb; the white bottoms always stay thin and straight, topped by a shock of green chive-like foliage. Harvest lightly in the first year, allowing the remaining plants to go to seed and self-sow. Next spring they’ll be the first edible to appear in your garden and may be harvested as needed, although they’re at their best early in the year.
Chives
Chives ( Allium schoenoprasum ) are hardy perennials with deep green, hollow leaves that grow in a clump 8 to 12 inches tall. Their mild onion flavor heralds spring. The lovely purple globe-shaped flowers in early summer are slightly stronger in flavor and when separated into individual florets are tasty additions to salads and make a beautiful and edible garnish.
PLANTING: Little pots of chives are one of the earliest culinary herbs to show up at nurseries each spring; they can be set out in the garden when temperatures are still quite cold. Seeds may be sown ¼ inch deep in fertile soil in full sun once the weather has settled. Divide clumps every 2 to 3 years and reset into the garden at 12-inch spacing to increase your stock; chives make a lovely border to both herb and ornamental gardens.
HARVESTING: Chives are at their best throughout spring. Snip the thin, grass-like tops often to encourage tender regrowth, and remove faded flowers before they set seed to keep plants full and productive.
Garlic chives
Garlic chives ( Allium tuberosum ), also known as Chinese chives or Oriental chives, are a different species from regular chives but are used in the same way. They are quicker to mature than regular chives, have flat grassy leaves with a delicate garlic flavor, and bear starry white flowers. Garlic chives are less hardy than regular chives; a harsh winter may kill unprotected plants.
PLANTING: Garlic chive plants appear in nurseries once spring has warmed and can be transplanted into the garden at that time. The seed needs a warm start (70 to 80°F) and is usually started indoors in thickly sown flats; transplant into the garden in clumps, first trimming roots to ½ inch.
HARVESTING: Snip the fine grassy foliage of garlic chives throughout the summer, removing spent flowers to maintain production.
Leeks
Leeks ( Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum ) are grown for their delicate-tasting, white fleshy stem.
PLANTING: Prepare a well-dug, fertile soil in full sun. Transplants are easier to place than seeds and provide a jump on the growing season when started indoors 50 days before the frost-free date. Leeks require a long growing season, typically 105 to 130 days to maturity, depending on the variety. When setting the transplants into the garden, trim a few inches from the top of each plant and space plants about 2 inches apart in every direction. This will allow you to harvest the young leeks at a “scallion” stage while thinning to an eventual spacing of 6 inches apart.
Every few weeks, mound soil around the growing leeks to
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